Donald L. Koch's Weebly Blog

​More than two decades ago, Donald L. Koch founded Koch Asset Management. Since then, the Saint Louis, Missouri-based firm has built up extensive experience in the acquisition of major shareholder stakes in a variety of community financial institutions. Donald L. Koch, whose background includes teaching economics at the University of North Florida and Jacksonville University, also served as director of research at the Atlanta BANK of the Federal Reserve.

The Federal Reserve system came into existence when President Woodrow Wilson signed the act establishing it into law in 1913. Congress sought through the Federal Reserve Act to provide a stabilizing force in the national economy after numerous bank failures, financial panics, and long-term episodes of scarce credit.

Serving as the nation’s central bank, the Federal Reserve oversees monetary policy in order to sustain healthy levels of employment, interest rates, and pricing. It promotes secure and efficient payments throughout the banking sector, and administers regulatory practices that benefit ordinary consumers.

There are 12 Federal Reserve Banks, each located in its own district, based on the major trading regions that obtained when the system was created. Because the district lines were drawn a century ago, they do not necessarily fall along strict state boundaries.

Atlanta and the other Federal Reserve cities--Boston, New York, Saint Louis, and San Francisco among them--are locations with long histories at the heart of the financial sector.

About Donald L. Koch

Before launching his career as a successful financial professional and business executive, Donald L. Koch earned a Bachelor of Arts in Economics from Principia College in Illinois. After completing his undergraduate studies, Koch went on to pursue a Master of Arts from Trinity College in Connecticut. Several years later, Koch returned to school to receive an Advanced Management Program degree from Harvard Business School.

After graduating from Trinity College, Donald L. Koch started his career as a Senior Security Analyst at Connecticut Bank & Trust. Two years later, Koch accepted an offer to become the Chief Economist at Barnett Banks of Florida, Inc., where he assisted with the management of portfolios worth several billion dollars. After leaving Barnett Banks of Florida, Koch began working as the Senior Vice President and Director of Research with the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta. During his time there, Koch served under Paul A. Volcker on the Federal Open Market Committee, the nation’s senior credit committee.

After serving as the Senior Vice President and Director of Investments with Robinson-Humphrey/American Express Company, Donald L. Koch became a Professor of Finance at the Georgia Institute of Technology. Today, Koch works as the Chief Executive Officer of Koch Asset Management, a money management firm that concentrates on investments in the financial service industry.

In addition to his career in finance, Donald L. Koch has written more than 30 refereed articles and authored and edited five books based on research and conferences held at The Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta. In 1983, Koch submitted an article titled “The Micro Solution” to the Economic Review journal of the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta. Earlier that year, Koch published the article “Purchase Accounting and the Quality of Bank Earnings” in the same publication.